Featuring ASCMA’s market position; RAVN’s partnership with Seed Hawk Inc.; MYGN’s revenue outlook; ZZ’s Q2 loss; GIS dividend boost; and XCO’s $1.3B asset sale.
Ascent Media Corp. (Nasdaq: ASCMA), Raven Industries (Nasdaq: RAVN), Myriad Genetics Inc. (Nasdaq: MYGN), Sealy Corp. (NYSE: ZZ), General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) and EXCO Resources Inc. (NYSE: XCO).
Ascent Media Corp. (Nasdaq: ASCMA) Stock Alert – Ascent Media Lags Nasdaq During Rebound
Since the March 9 closing low of 1,268.64, the Nasdaq has risen 44.6%, settling on Tuesday at 1,835.04, while Ascent Media Corp. (Nasdaq: ASCMA) has risen 16.3% from its March 9 low of $22.86 to close Tuesday at $26.58, grossly underperforming the Nasdaq by nearly a 3 to 1 margin.
Mkt Cap $364.08M
P/E Ratio 0.00
52-Wk Range $17.00 – $33.95
Avg. Daily Vol. 134,000
Ascent Media Corporation is a holding company and owns 100% of its operating subsidiary, Ascent Media Group, LLC. Ascent Media Corporation is primarily engaged in the business of providing content and creative services to the media and entertainment industries in the United States, the United Kingdom and Singapore.
AMG provides solutions for the creation, management and distribution of content to motion picture studios, independent producers, broadcast networks, programming networks, advertising agencies and other companies that produce, own and/or distribute entertainment, news, sports, corporate, educational, industrial and advertising content.
The company operates in two business segments: Content Services group and Creative Services group.
On September 4, 2008, Ascent Media consummated the sale of Ascent Media CANS, LLC (AccentHealth).
On September 8, 2008, the company sold 100% of the outstanding membership interests in Ascent Media Systems & Technology Services, LLC.
In its recent chart, ASCMA is trading at its higher Bollinger Bands range, a bullish condition signaling that the stock is strong relative to the recent price action. MACD reflects a bullish signal, with the indicator trending above its 9-day moving average signal line, indicating upwardly trending moving averages.
Raven Industries (Nasdaq: RAVN) Stock Alert – Raven and Seed Hawk Announce Collaboration Agreement
Raven Industries (Nasdaq: RAVN) recently announced it reached a collaboration agreement with Seed Hawk Inc. for developing innovations in air-seeder technology. Raven said in a news release that its new set of precision application and planter section controls will be offered on the Seed Hawk line of seeders, starting this fall.
The initial product from the collaboration is a combined fertilizer and seed section control from Raven applied through the company’s patent-pending technology from Seed Hawk. The system is designed to greatly reduce the costs associated with seed-and-fertilizer overlaps.
“By working together, our two companies can provide seeding solutions faster and more effectively,” says Pat Beaujot, president of Seed Hawk. “We can take advantage of expertise and existing products from both companies and offer better products that deliver significant value to our customers.”
Matt Burkhart, general manager of Applied Technology Division at Raven Industries, adds, “This new collaboration further demonstrates Raven’s commitment to expand its product line into seeding and planting applications.”
The system will be available at Seed Hawk dealers beginning this fall, with more innovative products to come from the collaboration. “With a good working agreement in place, our companies can share ideas freely, which will lead to faster solutions,” Beaujot explains.
Raven Industries Inc. is an industrial manufacturer providing a range of products to customers throughout North America. The company has four business segments consisting of three Raven divisions and one subsidiary: Applied Technology Division (formerly known as the Flow Controls Division), Engineered Films Division, Electronic Systems Division and Aerostar International Inc. (Aerostar).
In its recent chart, RAVN is trading below its lower Bollinger Bands range, a bearish condition signaling that the stock is weak relative to the recent price action. MACD reflects a bearish signal, with the indicator trending below its 9-day moving average signal line, indicating downwardly trending moving averages.
Myriad Genetics Inc. (Nasdaq: MYGN) Stock Alert – Myriad Expects to Post Drop in Revenue
Myriad Genetics Inc. (Nasdaq: MYGN) said it anticipates posting fiscal 2009 molecular diagnostic revenue, which will fall short of previous company guidance, citing a consumer spending pullback from the recession.
The sale of Myriad Genetics’ molecular diagnostic unit, which is designed to detect colon and breast cancer, represents the majority of the company’s revenue.
The Salt Lake City-based biotechnology company anticipates revenue from its molecular diagnostic unit to reach $326 million for the fiscal year ended June 30, compared with the company’s prior guidance of approximately $330 million. The mean analysts’ estimate polled by Thomson Reuters is for the company to report total revenue of $336.8 million.
For the fourth quarter, the company said it expects molecular diagnostic revenue to total $86 million, while analysts expect the company to post revenue of $91.6 million.
Myriad said that due to rising unemployment, insurance coverage has fallen which has causing patient delays, cancellations, and an overall drop in physician visits.
Myriad will report its financial results August 25.
Myriad Genetics Inc. is a healthcare company focused on the development and marketing of molecular diagnostic and therapeutic products. The company’s molecular diagnostic business focuses on the analysis of genes and their alterations to assess an individual’s risk for developing disease later in life (predictive medicine) and to assess a patient’s risk of disease progression, disease recurrence, drug toxicity, and drug response (personalized medicine).
As of June 30, 2008, the company had launched five commercial molecular diagnostic products, including both predictive medicine and personalized medicine products. Its commercial molecular diagnostic products include BRACAnalysis, COLARIS, COLARIS AP, MELARIS and THERAGUIDE 5-FU. It markets these products through its own person sales force in the United States and it has entered into marketing collaborations with other organizations in selected foreign countries.
In its recent chart, MYGN is trading below its lower Bollinger Bands range, a bearish condition signaling that the stock is weak relative to the recent price action. MACD reflects a bearish signal, with the indicator trending below its 9-day moving average signal line, indicating downwardly trending moving averages.
Sealy Corp. (NYSE: ZZ) Stock Alert – Sealy Reports Second-Quarter Loss
Sealy Corp. (NYSE: ZZ) reported a second-quarter loss, citing higher financing costs and declined sales.
Like other mattress makers, Sealy has fallen victim of slow sales following the collapse in the real estate and credit markets, which has been the source of most consumer spending since 2003.
Revenues fell 26% to $298.5 million, with U.S. sales declining 14% to $222.5 million and sales overseas plunging 35% to $76.0 million.
The company reported a loss of $5.2 million for the most recent quarter, or a loss of 6 cents per share, compared with a profit of $12 million, or 13 cents per share, for the same quarter last year.
Second-quarter earnings included a write-down of 13 cents per share related to costs incurred refinancing its senior debt.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected Sealy to earn 8 cents on revenue of $297.8 million, before special items.
Sealy Corp. is engaged in manufacturing and marketing of a line of bedding products, including mattresses and mattress foundations. Its conventional (innerspring) bedding products are manufactured and marketed in the Americas under its Sealy, Sealy Posturepedic, Stearns & Foster and Bassett brand names.
In addition, the company manufactures and markets specialty (non-innerspring) latex and visco-elastic bedding products under the PurEmbrace, TrueForm, SpringFree, Stearns & Foster, Reflexions, Carrington Chase, MirrorForm and Pirelli brand names.
The company operates in two reportable segments: the Americas and Europe. The Americas segment operations are concentrated in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, and Puerto Rico. Europe operations are concentrated in Western Europe.
In its recent chart, ZZ is trading below its lower Bollinger Bands range, a bearish condition signaling that the stock is weak relative to the recent price action. MACD reflects a bullish signal, with the indicator trending above its 9-day moving average signal line, indicating upwardly trending moving averages.
General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) Stock Alert – General Mills Hikes Dividend
General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) recently announced it has raised its quarterly dividend by 9.3%. The Minneapolis-based consumer foods maker said the company’s board approved a 4 cents hike in its dividend to 47 cents per share, and is payable August 3 to shareholders of record as of July 10.
The annual dividend rate will increase to $1.88 from $1.72.
General Mills Inc. is a manufacturer and marketer of branded consumer foods sold through retail stores. The company is a supplier of branded and unbranded food products to the foodservice and commercial baking industries.
General Mills manufactures its products in 16 countries and market them in more than 100 countries. Its joint ventures manufacture and market products in more than 130 countries and republics worldwide.
The company’s major product categories in the United States are ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, ready-to-serve soup, dry dinners, shelf stable and frozen vegetables, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, grain, fruit and savory snacks, microwave popcorn, and a variety of organic products including soup, granola bars, and cereal.
General Mills operates in three operating segments: U.S. Retail; International; and Bakeries and Foodservice.
In its recent chart, GIS is trading at its higher Bollinger Bands range, a bullish condition signaling that the stock is strong relative to the recent price action. MACD reflects a bullish signal, with the indicator trending above its 9-day moving average signal line, indicating upwardly trending moving averages.
EXCO Resources Inc. (NYSE: XCO) Stock Alert – EXCO Sells Haynesville Assets for $1.3 Billion
EXCO Resources Inc. (NYSE: XCO) recently announced it will sell its stake in the Haynesville shale natural gas project to Britain’s BG Group PLC for $1.3 billion. EXCO said a day earlier it intended to sell assets along 66,700 acres in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas in an effort to focus exclusively on its strategic assets. Encore Operating LP bought these assets for $375 million.
The oil and gas industry is undergoing a merger and acquisition trend, as the expectations of higher commodities prices will resume in an ongoing bull market, Crude oil prices declined from its high of $147 in July 2007 to a low of $35 in December, and then climbed back to $70 at the close of June. Natural gas hasn’t rebounded as much, but should retrace a similar move as the price of oil, according to industry experts.
Terms of the agreement include BG Group acquiring 50% of 120,000 net acres of Haynesville shale located in East Texas and North Louisiana. BG Group in return will pay $655 million, with an additional $249 to be paid for 50% interest in EXCO’s midstream assets. BG Group also agreed to fund EXCO’s drilling and completion expenses of up to 75% of the total cost of the project, but not to surpass $400 million.
The agreement includes 95 million cubic feet per day Cotton Valley and approximately 60 Mmcf/d from the Haynesville shale.
EXCO’s CEO Douglas Miller said the deal is good for the company “both in terms of the ability to aggressively pursue the Haynesville opportunities and in terms of strengthening our balance sheet to be in a position to capitalize on future opportunities in our core areas.”
EXCO Resources Inc. is an independent oil and natural gas company engaged in the acquisition, development and exploitation of onshore North American oil and natural gas properties. The company’s operations are focused in key North American oil and natural gas areas, including East Texas/North Louisiana, Appalachia, Mid-Continent and Permian.
As of December 31, 2008, EXCO’s proved reserves were approximately 1.9 trillion cubic feet equivalents (Tcfe), of which 93.6% were natural gas and 74.4% were proved developed reserves.
During the year ended December 31, 2007, EXCO produced 144.6 billions of cubic feet equivalent (Bcfe) of oil and natural gas.
On February 20, 2008, the company acquired shallow natural gas properties from EOG Resources, Inc.
On March 11, 2008, the company acquired a 230 mile gathering system in East Texas/North Louisiana.
In its recent chart, XCO is trading at its higher Bollinger Bands range, a bullish condition signaling that the stock is strong relative to the recent price action. MACD reflects a bearish signal, with the indicator trending below its 9-day moving average signal line, indicating downwardly trending moving averages.
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